DT to Sell Its Tower Business for €20 Billion

Brookfield Asset Management has started talks with Cellnex Telecom on a joint bid for Deutsche Telekom’s towers unit. The deal could value the assets at up to €20 billion including debt.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Brookfield Asset Management could also end up pursuing a solo bid. Other companies are said to be studying offers for either a minority or controlling stake in the Deutsche Telekom tower unit, with Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, DigitalBridge Group, and Vodafone Group’s Vantage Towers named as interested parties.

DT started the sales process for its mobile towers business in March, as it continues to pursue efforts to maximize the value of its infrastructure assets. It was previously suggested the 40,600 masts could fetch up to €18 billion. In April, DT is said to have begun assessing various bids from companies including Vantage Towers and a consortium comprising KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).

Cellnex already jointly owns towers with Deutsche Telekom in Switzerland and the Netherlands. The tower company does not as yet operate any assets in Germany. Deutsche Telekom owns almost 33,000 towers in Germany. Subsidiary GD Towers holds the domestic sites along with 7,000 in Austria.